Need help, Urgent. Rust-related

[Guest Anonymous]

I've been looking for a project car

for my v-8 conversion.

 

I found a nice 79 280zx that I can

get for $350, but I have to act soon

or it goes to the scrap yard.

 

It belongs to a used car dealer who

bought it to resale, and then realized

that it didn't have air conditioning.

Nobody wanted it because of that.

 

He parked it over ten years ago and nobody

had touched it since until I looked at it

yesterday (good weather-stripping, the

air inside was stale like a tomb).

 

It was running and had brand new tires when

parked. It had NO rust when he parked it,

but there is now some rust. None of the

rust is structural however. The rust

is in the outermost portions of the

rocker-panels (The unibody is visible in

some places, but has not been contaminated

with rust). It apparently rusted via contact

with the underbrush growing up around the

car.

 

There is no rust in the floor pans or the

back hatch. There is some minor rust on

the hood and roof, but it could be sanded

away (it is surface rust from many years

in the weather).

 

Should a snatch up this car or keep looking?

 

How hard/expensive will it be to fix the

rusty rocker-panels?

 

Oh, and you guys think I could sell the motor

and tranny? They had recently been rebuilt

when the car was parked. I'd bet good money

that the thing would crank if I put in a

good battery.

 

Should I jump on it, or wait for another one?

[Mike kZ]

If that's the body style your looking for, I'd say it sounds like a good deal.You could weld some patch panels on the rockers.

Get the motor running first, and make sure the car drives well, that way when you go to sell the engine the guy can hear, and see it run.